Winter has officially wrapped us in its icy arms, but there are a few ways to make this frosty season a little more bearable. One of my favorite winter treats is a steaming mug of thick, creamy hot chocolate. I usually use regular cocoa mix from a box, but with one little trick, I can make a hot chocolate that rivals even the bougie café drinking chocolate: I make my cocoa with cornstarch.

Cornstarch is a versatile and forgiving thickener that you can easily incorporate into your cooking repertoire. You don’t need much; just a teaspoon or two can be enough to help thicken ingredients, like melted chocolate with skim milk or beaten eggs in egg drop soup. The only thing you need to be careful about is when to activate the thickening properties of the starch.

Cornstarch is a superfine powder that you can buy in the baking aisle of most grocery stores, but you can't just toss a spoonful into boiling soup or hot chocolate. Cornstarch gelatinizes at temperatures just below boiling (starting at about 145°F and reaching full potential at about 203°F), but if you don't mix the cornstarch with another ingredient to disperse the powder, you may get lumps when you add it to the boiling liquid. Prevent this by making a "slurry" of the cornstarch and cold liquid (cold liquid won't start the gelatinization process), or mix the dry cornstarch with another powder or granulated mix, such as sugar or hot chocolate.

I have as much respect for a homemade hot chocolate powder mix as the next person, but I’ve been crushing the store-bought packets this winter. Luckily, you can use this cornstarch trick on any version of hot chocolate to give it a more luxurious, thicker consistency.